Leaves: Vary in colour with lower leaves dark green or with silverywhite veins and upper leaves light or dark green with no markings, all hairless with margins entire, paler undersides and on stalks (15-60 cm long) which are partly grooved; lower leaves are heart-shaped or shaped like an arrow-head (7-14 cm long) with pointed tips; intermediate leaves larger with spreading lobes; upper leaves (12-38 cm long and 16-17 cm wide) divided into three segments or leaflets.

Climbs up into shrubs and tree shading out native vegetation and in so doing reducing native plant diversity and abundance. It has the ability to invade intact forests covering the forest floor and climbing into large and well established native trees, often causing canopy collapse due to the weight of the large stems (Space and Flynn, 2000; (Morgan et al., 2004). In Florida it is displacing a host of native plants including rare ferns (Possley, 2004). In Belize, it has invaded citrus orchards competing with trees for water and nutrients (Tzul, undated). The thick mats also harbour snakes endangering labourers working in orchards (Tzul, undated). S. podophyllum may also cause mild to severe poisoning if ingested (Morgan et al., 2004).

Source:

Witt, Arne. 2017. Guide to the Naturalized and Invasive Plants of Southeast Asia. CAB International. Retrieved from http://www.cabi.org/cabebooks/ebook/20173158961 on 24 October 2018